Less than one week remains for photographers to submit entries for the 2020 Women in Sport Photo Action Awards (#WISPAA).

Women Sport Australia (WSA), the national advocacy body for women in sport, launched #WISPAA last year to generate greater recognition and respect for the skill, strength and athleticism of Australian women actively participating in sport.

The 2019 inaugural #WISPAA competition attracted hundreds of images from around Australia in both the professional and amateur award categories.

Victorian Michael Wilson was the professional winner in 2019 with his photo of AFLW star Tayla Harris ‘The Kick’ which made waves across the sporting world.

“I didn’t think at the time that a picture like that, what an amazing action picture it is, would have the ramifications that it went on to have. At the time I thought it was an amazing picture of an elite female footballer just going about her business. An incredible picture of athleticism; the elevation and leg extension. It’s just got it all as far as an action picture,” Willson said.

Humbled to be crowned the professional winner, Willson is very supportive of the competition and has already entered images for 2020.

“Being the inaugural winner was a huge honour. The competition is unique in that it recognises women in sport and portrays them in an athletic manner, which I love.”

West-Australian Johan Schmidt was the amateur winner in 2019 with his picture ‘The Hit-up’ of Sera Ah-Sam of the Western Force being tackled in a match by Tayla Stanford.

“WISPAA 2019 was the first photography competition I had entered, so I wasn’t quite sure what the judges were looking for. I submitted two rugby shots; one of Lily Dick in the Aussie 7s and then Sera Ah-Sam of the Western Force,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt is proud of being the inaugural amateur WISPAA winner and has increased his photography of women’s sport because of the competition, believing it to be an important part of the sporting landscape.

“I was hoping that WISPAA would be happening again this year, so I planned ahead to get a lot of photographs of women’s sports. I would contact sporting organisations and advise that I was the winner in 2019 which opened a lot of doors for me. It has been very useful.”

With the #WISPAA competition closing on Sunday 31 May, photographers have six days to enter action images of women playing sport that were taken between 1 May 2019 and 30 April 2020.

Photographers can submit up to three photos of Australian sportswomen in action via WSA’s dedicated #WISPAA web page.

Photos submitted must show an Australian sportswoman or sportswomen aged over 18 actively participating in sport at any level in Australia. The sport can be amateur or professional. Judges will favour photos that depict the athleticism, strength and the skill of a woman or women aged over 18 participating in sport. Further terms and conditions can be found on the #WISPAA website.